What’s in a Definition Anyway? A Survey of College Biology Instructor Definitions of Sex/Gender
Society often understands sex as binary, using the highly-simplified categories of male and female. Biologically though, there are many layers to sex (e.g., chromosomal, hormonal, reproductive, genital). Despite the complexity of sex, transgender undergraduate biology students reported learning binary definitions of sex in their biology courses. However, no prior literature has documented how various biology instructors define sex and gender in their courses. To fill this research gap, we answered the research question, “how do biology instructors define sex and gender,” by surveying a sample of biology instructors. We collected information on instructor demographics, teaching experience, educational background, sex and gender curricula, and personal and in-class definitions of sex and gender. To analyze instructor responses, we used iterative conventional content analysis (constructing codes from the text data) to create codes for instructor definitions of sex and gender. Overall, definitions of sex - both those definitions held personally by instructors and the definitions used in their class - ranged from simple definitions that centered gametes, phenotypes, and/or chromosomes to complex and more complete definitions that included a variety of characteristics and manifestations of sex. Additionally, we found - despite almost all of the participant biology instructors holding a personal definition of gender - many of them did not define gender in their class, simply noting - in their opinion - it’s either not a scientific term or it’s not the same as sex. This novel investigation of instructor definitions of sex and gender revealed students receive variable education regarding sex and gender. These simplified definitions can perpetuate outdated science that impacts the way students (our future scientists and medical practitioners) will ask research questions, interpret data, and interact with collaborators and patients. Additionally, these more complex and accurate definitions better prepare future healthcare professionals (e.g., physicians, nurses) to care for intersex and trans-spectrum patients.